MarBrisa Carlsbad Resort

Everything looks Better on the outside Where do I start, this resort is in a beautiful location. Over all the resort looks amazing. That’s the nice part. My whole stay I saw sweaty tired housekeeping employees that where in full clothes even in the very hot weather, when I asked one of the cleaning ladies she said that housekeepers are not aloud to wear any comfortable clothes in the heat. There have to wear pants and uncomfortable looking shirts. (The shuttle drivers where dressed in summer clothes my whole stay). There is trash and dirty linen in every hallway and it looks terrible. I asked for some extra things for my room when a employee walked by, he was very polite and called multiple people (management ) to put in a call because he was clearly busy. He received no answer and apologized to me. Overall definitely need to be under new management, seems like something needs to be done here.

Poor customer service The property itself is impressively large and close to Legoland. My biggest issue here is the checkout time of 10am - and the fact that they don’t honor late checkouts, which is ridiculous. Industry standard is 11am, IMO its pure greed to make guests leave early just to save $$ on hiring extra housekeepers. We did enjoy the pool at the Cove but it was extremely crowded, not a surprise for a Saturday afternoon but if you are looking for relation try somewhere else. The rooms themselves are decent size, but now well maintained, the thermostat seems to be for show only and the fridge didn’t get very cold.

Absolutely terrible experience. I live 2 miles away in Carlsbad and we have frequented the Sheraton and Marbrisa when it was the Sheraton when it opened. I preface this review by stating I'm in customer service and I deal with difficult people every single day. That being said it takes a lot for me to ever write a negative review, which I think I've ever wrote one. This really is a Hilton issue or management issue and not an employee problem. So upon checking in we were informed we cannot pay in cash but we can tip in cash...no problem I get it. I ask for a rollaway for my son and I'm told it's a fire code issue and we can't have one...umm no that's not accurate myself knowing the fire codes. Management then tells me it's not a fire code issue it's a HOA policy...ok no problem I'm Good. We were then placed in a building literally one mile away from the family pool. We asked numerous times if we could stay next to the pool but we were told nothing was available. It is so far away we have to drive to the pool now or take the shuttle...ok I get it and we will deal with it. Although if I would of known I would be staying one mile away from my house I would of stayed home. We had no idea that the property extended all the way to the crossings golf course...literally. Next day we have to drive to the pool and hangout for about an hour. We leave our stuff at the pool and DRIVE back to our room to have lunch. When we come back all our stuff is gone and placed in lost in found. When I ask security where our stuff is they can't find it. After searching they finally found our belongings and then said we can't leave our belongings unattended. Well if I didn't have to drive to my room or wait for at least 45 min to order anything from the bar with one bartender (see photo)I would of stayed the whole time. BTW if I could of stayed next to the pool I would of only been gone momentarily. So now we have lost our spot which was given to people who never used it the entire day. Needless to say extremely disappointing. Later in the day we ordered food when the line got smaller to be only told that whenever you want a drink you are required to order food. Ok I asked where and who is this a mandate coming from. If it's a hotel policy I get it. But to blame the county for this is absolutely embarrassing and an insult to me as a customer. The night before we ate at the hotel restaurant and two out of four of us have food and the rest of us had drinks. Not one person enforced this so called county/ABC/Heath Department rule. There was no mandatory food requirement for every drink any where else in the county. I've stayed in a ton of hotels in my life and this has been the absolute worst experience. Every single one of my concerns with Andrew has been met with lies or a flagrant I could care less. I honestly can't believe the lack of empathy and a collective we could care less. We used to all the Sheraton functions, new the entire staff, and go to Ocean Pearl Spa for the day. Sad we live down the street and are asked often where to stay and sadly as a local I will never recommend this establishment.

Not what we expected We have stayed at Marbrisa Hilton Grand Vacation several times in spring, summer and autumn. The complex has several buildings, quite a few are pretty old. The area is very quiet unless you stay during high season and get a room around The Cove where the main pools are located. They keep the music blasting all day long and night. If you are lucky to be at one of the newest buildings, you are in good shape but far from the action; you win some, you lose some. At “The Cove” there is a gym, a bar and restaurant, pool tables, and other playground activities. Also has three large swimming pools. The large one was under renovations as well as the playground area. We were not advised about any remodeling going on, nor the closing of the pool. It was not very pleasant to relax at a place surrounded by hammering and tarp-covered walls blocking the view of half of the grounds. Was not what we expected on our vacation. We particularly avoid booking places if we know there is remodeling underway; we were not told, very bad business practice for Hilton to do that.

Grand Vacation, ..... until it was not. One employee changed my whole experience here, so I want to really remember the pools, and the view, and the restaurant. Our room was top floor in Pointe section and had beautiful East balcony views of golf, airplanes & mountain s. Lucky enough to even get snow while we were here! Also western views over the pool and sunsets were really good. I came from a long way away, and spent 3 days here with my beau. The giant bathtub was soooo nice! He left for work, then I went to my Dad’s house for Thanksgiving Day. When I returned on Friday, every light in the place was on. The bed was stripped, sheets piled on floor. It looked like a burglary. I put everything back together, ate early dinner and was ready for bed about 6pm, exhausted from all the travel & holiday family... you know. Loud Knock at door, pounding at door & then door suddenly thrust open. I had the latch on, there was a lot of rattling & multiple slams, so it all seemed very violent. “Turndown service!” Well- I never requested turndown service. We didn’t have it Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.... So now this rude person wants to get in my face about my being here in my room on Friday. “There was no luggage in here when we came in”. Why were they “in” when I had “do not disturb” sign out ??!? I travel pretty light, and like to keep my options open. So I went somewhere else in the middle of my vacation, is that a problem? I had not checked out. Also I did not ever request Turndown Service. So..... I see that they are trying to do a great job here, but I do not need anything. Eventually the person says “Have some chocolates”. WTF? *Well, that’s going to make it all better....* So then .... here is where it gets nasty, This person does the exact same thing on Saturday, after I am already asleep in bed. Multiple poundings/shouting & Violently slamming door open twice. No chocolate this time, though. Thank God I was only here on an exchange. I have owned my timeshare elsewhere since ‘84, and never had anything like that happen anywhere, ever. I will never be back.